A digital billboard in Florida was hacked, leading to messages that looked more like Reddit memes. In one case, there was a picture of a gorilla referring to himself as a “naughty boy.” Another mocked the very idea of connecting a billboard to the internet. (Well played.) But it was the last image, featuring a cute little corgi, that got the bulk of the attention:
Corgi is hungry for some burgers and fries, but be warned in case you join him for dinner: “Satan is the one true god.”
…
“I understand where people could get offended, especially with the ‘Satan is the one true god,’ but it made for a good laugh and I’ll always remember it,” [Markelle] Maddock said. “I thought it gave a comedic relief for such a stressful time of the year.”
Incidentally, I asked The Satanic Temple what they thought of the revised billboard. Spokesperson Lucien Greaves got a kick out of it, though he made clear they don’t believe in God (or Satan).
While it is obligatory that I point out that Satanism’s anti-theocratic and non-theistic religious beliefs render comments regarding a “one true god” rather anti-Satanic from The Satanic Temple’s perspective, it’s impossible not to be greatly amused at the idea of a happy corgi praising Satan on a billboard, causing a frenzied outrage, even among the supposedly inoffensive miles of billboard admonishments against abortion with fetus images splayed across them, creationist insults against reason, threats of damnation, and crosses littering the horizon. Surely, the only lesson to be gained here is the one related to internet security.
He’s right about that last bit. The billboard has apparently been shut off until the problem can be corrected.
(Thanks to Brian for the link)